Sundust is a remarkable book. Peña’s illustrations are captivating, with primarily muted colors but also splashes of neon pink on every page. The desert habitat is vibrant and alive, and you can feel the characters’ love for it as they wander through in search of something they saw fall from the sky on the title page.

The text and story feel like a poem about the adventure, creatures, and beauty of the desert, and the magical elements of the book somehow feel natural as well. As soon as I finished, I flipped right back to the start to go on the journey again, and I know kids will do the same over and over again. It’s a book teachers could use when studying habitats or poetic devices, but it would also just make a fantastic read-aloud. I believe any elementary-aged student, from kindergarten to fifth grade, would find this book highly engaging, and it would be a fantastic addition to any school or home library.